Carlos Beltran, who was questionable for Game 2, went 2-for-4 with an RBI. / Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON â?? Normalcy returned to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. They made the plays they needed to, once again got sharp starting pitching, then topped it off with shutdown relief from their fireballing bullpen.

Toss in some contributions from a hurting postseason hero and you have a tied World Series after St. Louis pulled out a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2.

That Game 1 monstrosity? Merely an aberration, and nobody shunts those aside any better than the Cardinals, who seem not to know the meaning of the phrase "carryover effect.''

"This is a crazy game. Stuff happens. You're going to play games like that,'' Matt Holliday said of the Cardinals' sloppy 8-1 loss in the series opener. "You turn the page and you move on to the next day and try to win the next game. As a baseball player, that's how you have to handle things like that.''

It's easier when you have one of the game's top postseason performers back in the lineup after an injury scare.

Right fielder Carlos Beltran, whose participation was in doubt after he bruised his ribs making a catch in Game 1, went 2-for-4 with an RBI as the Cardinals regained the lead in the seventh.

Beltran had waited 16 seasons to reach his first World Series, only to strike out in his only at-bat of the opener, then leave for the hospital in the third inning. X-rays and a CT scan came back negative, but Beltran said he initially wasn't optimistic about playing.

He took a pain-killing shot before batting practice, then tried hitting in the cage.

"I felt like I was swinging the bat OK, not good, but good enough to be able to go out there and be with the guys,'' Beltran said.

He more than carried his weight, singling in the first inning and capping a three-run seventh with an RBI single that accounted for the final score.

"Amazing. To see him in the lineup makes a huge difference for us, just the leader he is,'' catcher Yadier Molina said. "I'm so happy that he was back.''

Asked how badly he wanted to be in the game, Beltran replied, "Somebody would have to kill me in order for me to be out of the lineup."

And the Cardinals were back to their normal selves, displaying an aggressiveness that manager Mike Matheny felt was missing on Wednesday. The game-turning rally was equal parts St. Louis pressing the action and Boston bumbling plays.

St. Louis trailed 2-1 in the seventh when David Freese and Jon Jay reached base with one out, prompting Boston manager John Farrell to replace starter John Lackey with Craig Breslow, who had thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings going back to the regular season.

He would not extend the streak to 19.

Pinch-runner Pete Kozma and Jay advanced on a double steal before Daniel Descalso, who replaced Kozma as the starting shortstop, walked to load the bases.

Matt Carpenter's sacrifice fly to left tied the game, and that's when things go wacky. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia failed to hold on to Jonny Gomes' throw home for an error, and when Breslow tried to nab Jay scampering for third, he threw the ball over third baseman Xander Bogaerts and into the left-field seats to allow St. Louis to take a 3-2 lead.

"I'm sure Craig would like to have that ball back and hold it with a chance to shut down the inning right there,'' Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Uncharacteristic of the way I think we've taken care of the baseball this year.''

Descalso made it to third on the errant throw and scored the game's final run on Beltran's single to right.

Just like that, the Cardinals had responded to a David Ortiz two-run homer in the sixth that had given Boston its first lead of the night against the previously unassailable Michael Wacha.

The rookie right-hander was sharp again, tying Bob Gibson's franchise record by stretching his streak of postseason scoreless innings to 19.

But it ended moments later in the sixth, as Dustin Pedroia worked Wacha for a walk and, with his pitch count mounting, Ortiz pounded a high changeup over the left-field fence for his fifth postseason homer this year and the 17th of his career.

"I was pretty mad,'' Wacha said, "but Yadi came up and was like, 'Don't worry. Just hold them here. We're going to score in the top of the seventh.'''

Wacha closed out the inning, and the bullpen took over from there.

Rookie right-hander Carlos Martinez kept the Red Sox at bay for two innings, overcoming a Carpenter error to complete a scoreless eighth by getting Mike Napoli to pop up a 95-mph fastball with runners on first and second.

"I'm always in communication with the manager, and if he asks me I tell him, 'Yes, I can throw two innings, three innings, whatever is needed,''' Martinez said. "I'm confident I can do the job.''

Closer Trevor Rosenthal then blew away Gomes, Saltalamacchia and pinch-hitter Daniel Nava in the ninth, striking them out with fastballs clocked at 98, 98 and 99 mph.

"That's what we've seen Trevor do for a good part of the season,'' Matheny said.